Friday 26 April 2013

Splintered by A.G. Howard


Summary from Goodreads

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.


Hardcover, 371 pages
Published January 1st 2013 by Amulet Books
 
My Review
 
Splintered is an absolutely awesome read that I think everyone needs to read themselves to experience how wonderful it is. Alice in Wonderland is one of my favourite childhood stories and I will admit to being a little wary about picking this up, but I am so pleased to say I actually enjoyed it more than the original - which is quite a feat indeed!

A.G. Howard has twisted what we were lead to believe about Wonderland and morphed it into a darker, sinister and more spunkier version - that is so brilliant to get pulled into. The descriptors are fabulous - rich, lush and so awesomely brought to life by Howard's out of this world writing!

The storyline is imaginative, I adored following main character Alyssa on her trip down the rabbit hole, in the hopes of saving herself and her mother from the insanity curse that has been in her family from Alice herself!

Alyssa is a really great character and I loved getting to know her. She takes Jeb (her real world crush) along with her for the Wonderland ride, and while I was very much meh about him, I was completely turned around by the end of the book.

My favourite character would have to be Morpheus *swoon*, he is so intriguingly moreish. He has this dark, dangerous nature and is a bit of a sneaky trickster at heart.

The story is perfectly paced and is full of mystery, adventure, danger and plenty of twists to keep you on the edge. I simply loved watching the madness unfold on every page!

The ending is very good and I think this book would of also worked as a really great standalone novel. I really can't urge everyone enough to go pick up this highly addictive book, because I can promise you that you'll not have read anything like it before!

A BIG 5 Stars!

*Special thanks to Amulet for the review copy*

Carly :)


Guys, please do check out my new little blog - Little Fiction Fascination . It really could do with some love.

3 comments:

  1. I really love Alice and Wonderland too but for some reason I never got around to reading this! It's great that you enjoyed it

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  2. I agree about Morpheus! He is so complex and I liked him a lot. The dark twisted Wonderland was amazing :) I'm happy you enjoyed it!

    Mel@thedailyprophecy.

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  3. This was my first five star read of 2013 and I thought it was fantastic. So glad you loved it as well. I adored Morpheus but I also really liked Jed!

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